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Special Olympics Research

Report

Evaluation of Camp Shriver in Six U.S. Sites

This research was designed to evaluate the implementation of
six Camp Shriver programs and the impact of the program on Special
Olympics athletes, volunteers, counselors and partners. In the
summer of 2006, five new Camp Shriver sports camps were implemented
throughout the Unites States, in addition to the camp run at the
home of Special Olympics Founder Eunice Kennedy Shriver in
Maryland. These sites consisted of camps in Florida, Oregon,
Louisiana, Missouri, and Massachusetts. Camp Shriver programming is
designed to provide a normative, fun, camp-like experience for
young people with intellectual disabilities, to enhance the sports
skills of athletes/campers, and to provide an inclusive environment
by also including partners (athletes without intellectual
disabilities).

The Camp Shriver experience significantly boosted skills in
multiple sports. Pre- and post-camp assessments placed athletes in
four categories of proficiency in each sport. In almost all sports
and all locations, post-camp assessments showed more athletes in
the higher proficiency levels and fewer athletes in the lower
levels. In some cases, the improvements were dramatic. At Camp
Shriver Oregon, for example, pre-camp assessments placed more than
50% of campers in the lower two skill levels in basketball, but in
post-camp evaluations, 79% were found to be in the highest two
skill levels.

Findings indicate that Camp Shriver also fostered social inclusion
for athletes with intellectual disabilities. By asking campers with
and without intellectual disability to identify who they enjoyed
playing sports with and who they considered a new friend, it was
discovered that after participation in Camp Shriver, answers were
not affected at all by disability status. Campers with and without
intellectual disabilities were equally as likely to be considered
fun to play with and identified as new friends.

Camp Shriver locations also provided volunteers and staff an
opportunity to increase their awareness of intellectual
disabilities, regardless of their previous level of exposure.
Additionally, post-camp surveys showed staff and volunteers were
interested in continuing their involvement with Camp
Shriver.

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